Chapter Text
Subaru woke up to the same morning for the fourteenth time. The metallic taste of blood still lingered in his mouth from where he had bitten off his tongue in the previous loop.
He sat up slowly, moving like a machine, and turned to the mirror. The reflection was unchanged. The same dead eyes. The same neutral mask. He couldn't recall the last time a genuine emotion had flickered behind those pupils. It had been years. Centuries, perhaps. Physically, he was frozen at twenty, but his soul was ancient, weathered by an ocean of death. He had lost count of the loops long ago.
The memories, however, refused to fade. The Great Rabbit was a scar on his mind, but other horrors rivaled it now. The rotting plague of the Black Serpent. The grotesque distortions of Capella’s lust. And that single, hellish puzzle that had taken fifty thousand deaths to solve.
Through it all, he had never been truly alone. He grasped the black crystal pendant hanging from his neck.
"Echidna..." he whispered.
The stone pulsed against his palm, a rhythmic beating that quickened until it synced with his own heart. The world dissolved.
When his vision cleared, he stood in the familiar grassy plain. The white-haired witch sat at her table, dressed in funeral black—a stark contrast to the endless blue sky. She was beautiful, undeniably so, even after everything she had put him through.
Subaru sat opposite her, lifting the teacup with a delicate, practiced grace. He drank the fluid of her being without hesitation. He had stopped caring about the taste eons ago.
"You finally got your happy ending, I guess," Echidna said, her smile sharp.
He had. Emilia was Queen of Lugunica. The Witch's Cult was ash. The Great Mabeasts were memories. He was the legendary Knight.
But the victory was hollow. Emilia ruled a kingdom but grieved a past she couldn't reconcile. Rem was awake, but a stranger. Garfiel looked at him with hatred. Otto was gone. Reinhard was broken. Even Beatrice, his sweet Beatrice, couldn't stand the sight of him after he forced her to sever her bond with the witch.
"Maybe..." Subaru’s voice was dry.
"Didn't you like the outcome? You kept everyone safe. Everyone is alive," Echidna teased.
"Tell me, Echidna," Subaru cut through her playfulness. "How old am I?"
Echidna tapped her chin theatrically. "A difficult calculation. But taking into account the loops... I can confirm you are well over six hundred thousand years old."
Curiosity danced in her eyes. Subaru merely stared at his reflection in the tea.
"Hmm."
"Just as I thought."
Subaru stood and walked toward the portal. He offered no goodbye. He didn't look back.
Behind him, Echidna watched the steam rise from his cup. Her smile faltered, just a fraction.
"Ah, even so..." She looked at the empty space where he had vanished. "Why must love always fade?"
CRAAAACK.
The sound of shattering glass tore through the dimension.
As Subaru stepped into the void, shadow hands erupted from the darkness, seizing his limbs and dragging him down into the Garden of Shadows.
"I love you."
The voice was everywhere.
"IloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyou..."
Subaru didn't struggle. He understood instantly: Echidna had severed their contract. The barrier was down.
"I guess she was holding you back all this time," Subaru said to the figure emerging from the gloom.
"I love you," she said again. But the madness was gone, replaced by a crushing regret.
"I know."
"I'm sorry..." She was weeping beneath her veil.
"I know."
"I love you, but I can't let you continue this. Not like this, my love." Her eyes burned with a terrifying determination.
"Wait. What are you planning?"
Panic, cold and sharp, pierced Subaru’s chest—a feeling he hadn’t felt in millennia.
"I'm sorry for not saving you sooner. But it's time for you to rest."
"Satella! Stop!"
"Even if you hate me... never forget that I will always love you."
She kissed his forehead, and the world began to disintegrate.
"Stop it! Stop it! STOP IT!" Subaru screamed, the sound tearing his throat apart.
Darkness swallowed him whole. Sensory deprivation. No sight. No sound. Just the void.
He surrendered to it.
And then—a breeze. Cool air against his cheek. The smell of damp earth.
Subaru opened his eyes. He was standing in a graveyard. The sky was grey. In front of him stood a modest headstone, the flowers at its base long withered and brown.
He stepped closer, squinting to read the inscription carved into the granite.
Natsuki Subaru 1999 - 2016 Our Beloved Son